Praedicator

Verba

Monday, March 1, 2010 - Monday in the Second Week of Lent

[Daniel 9:4b-10 and Luke 6:36-38]

Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. [Luke]

I belong to a religious order (Dominicans) that was founded in such a way that our ministries are in large part supported by the generosity of others. We are "mendicants" (beggars)! Many of you in my beloved congregation know this from my annual mention of our 1216 Campaign! We share this historical characteristic with Franciscans, Augustinians, Carmelites, and other religious orders that were founded to be mobile instead of living in self-supporting monasteries. During my seminary days, we Dominican student brothers were often reminded that our education was being financed in large part by donations from the Shrine of St. Jude at our parish in Chicago! During my ministry, I have constantly benefited from the generosity of those whom I have served. It is a reminder to me to be generous in my own way by my "availability" and by praying for them daily!
Luke's admonition about generosity comes at the end of his version of the Sermon on the Mount (The Sermon on the Plain!). He notes generosity extends to forgiveness and material resources. The image of filling a container, then shaking it down to add more, is a good way to demonstrate what he means! Do we measure out our generosity that way? It might be a good Lenten exercise to consider not so much what we "give up" as what we GIVE! Is it time? Is it treasure? Is it talent? In what ways can we consider ourselves to be generous? The Lord gives us a hint in pointing out that the measure in which we give is the measure we will receive from him! How much do we want from the Lord? AMEN